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Misdirection and Subterfuge
}} The Linear Guild plots against the Order of the Stick. Cast * Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶ * Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶ * Silver ▶ * The Linear Guild ** Nale ◀ ▶ ** Sabine (also as Dwarf Blackmith) ◀ ▶ ** Thog ◀ ▶ ** Zz'dtri (as an illusion) ◀ ▶ ** Hilgya Firehelm (as an illusion) ◀ ▶ ** Yikyik (as an illusion) ◀ ▶ * Dwarf Blacksmith (the real one) ◀ ▶ * Two townspeople Transcript Sabine (as Dwarf Blacksmith): Farewell! Bring me back the starmetal, laddie! Roy: Yeah, yeah, I remember the plot. Belkar: "Are you OK?" Heh heh, yeah right... Sabine is left alone. Sabine returns to her true appearance. Nale: I take it he bought the story? Sabine: Hook, line and proverbial sinker, honey. Sabine: What I don't get, though, is why go through all the trouble to send Roy after this starmetal. Won't that just make his sword that much stronger? Nale: Well, were the oaf to actually find and retrieve it, then yes, theoretically. Two townspeople see Sabine in her true fiendish form. Woman: Aaaah!! Nale: But the rumor about that meteorite has been around for decades. If it ever existed, some other group of adventurers would have claimed it by now. Nale: I mean, seriously, it has "quest" written all over it. Nale: By sending him out there on a plausible fool's errand, it keeps the heat off of us while we engage in the business at hand. Sabine: And what business would that be? Nale: Recruiting replacement members for a new Linear Guild, naturally. Nale produces a Silent Image of the face of Hilgya, Yikyik, and Zz'dtri with red X's over them. Nale: We lost three allies when we last faced my brother Elan. When I seek my revenge on him, I intend for the outcome to be more favorable. Flashback to Nale and Thog coming around the corner of the Barbarian's Guild just as Belkar is walking in. Thog carries a sleeping bag and a teddy bear, and wears a nightcap. Nale (off-panel): We're just lucky I spotted the creepy little psychopath when I was picking Thog up from his Barbarian's Guild sleepover, or we'd have no idea they managed to escape Xykon. Cut back to Nale. Nale: As an extra added bonus, if half the things I've heard regarding Wooden Forest are true, I wouldn't give you a copper piece for their chances to all make it back alive. Sabine: Hee. I hope the skank survives, though. I want to kill her myself. Nale: Ooh, it gets me hot when you talk about snuffing out lives. They walk into the blacksmith's shop, where Thog has the real Dwarf Blacksmith on all fours in a dog collar and on a leash. Nale: Thog! Pack up your stuff and say goodbye to Mr. Real Blacksmith. We're going to Cliffport. Thog: Awwww. Bye-bye, Puppy! Be good while Daddy Thog is gone! Blacksmith: Help me. D&D Context * Succubi like Sabine have the supernatural ability to change shape at will. Trivia * In the first panel Belkar is referring to his feigned concern from the previous strip. * Thog's love of puppies from #51 returns in the darkest way possible at the end of this strip. * This is the first appearance of the real Dwarf Blacksmith, his prior appearance is Sabine Shape Changed into his (somewhat more swarthy) likeness in #134. * This is the first appearance of Silver, Roy's horse. *In Thog’s dialogue here he doesn’t speak in his normal all lowercase bolded manner. External Links * 142}} View the comic * link|999544}} View the discussion thread Category:Uses Silent Image Category:Uses Shape Change Category:Sidequest for Starmetal